The present invention relates to a method of dispensing lottery tickets, to an apparatus for dispensing tickets and to an apparatus including an assembly of the tickets.
Ticket vending machines for example those manufactured by Interlott Technologies Inc of Cincinnati, Ohio and American Games Inc. (now Pollard Games Inc.) of Council Bluffs, Iowa generally include an exterior housing which contains and secures the tickets and payment receptacle and which is accessible by customers for actuating switches on the housing for dispensing selected lottery tickets.
The lottery tickets are contained within separate containers within the housing each of which has a dispensing unit operable to dispense a ticket from a selected container in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer.
The control of the dispensing is effected by a control unit within the housing which is responsive to the actuation of the switches by the customers and responsive to the receipt of payment from the customers for dispensing the tickets.
Instant win lottery tickets can be provided either as scratch-off tickets or as pull tab (otherwise known as break-open) tickets. While the two above types of tickets are different in many respects both in regard to the manner of manufacture and in regard to methods of validation and control, the present invention is intended to be directed to both types of lottery tickets and the term xe2x80x9clottery ticketxe2x80x9d as used herein is intended to cover both types and other types of lottery tickets which require dispensing in the same or similar manner as the above types.
Generally lottery tickets of the scratch off type are manufactured in a continuous strip which is then fan-folded for convenient supply. Generally break open type tickets are manufactured in individual ticket pieces which are then formed into a stack and dispensed one at a time from the bottom of the stack.
A machine for dispensing scratch off type tickets in fan folded form is manufactured by Interlott and has been available for many years. A machine for dispensing break open type tickets in stacked form also has been available for many years from American Games Inc and has been sold under the model PTVM. The construction, arrangement and operation of these models is well known to one skilled in the art and is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition a specific arrangement of dispensing arrangement proposed for use in a dispenser for the fan folded scratch off tickets is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/873,811 filed Jun. 4, 2001 by many of the inventors herein and which is commonly owned with this application. This dispensing arrangement provides an arrangement for feeding an upper end of the strip of tickets to a feed system which acts to burst the perforations between each ticket and the next as each ticket is dispensed in turn. The construction and arrangement of this dispensing device is incorporated herein by reference.
The dispensing machines are generally maintained on the premises of a retailer so that the retailer is charged with the responsibility of filling the containers as necessary to maintain a continuous supply without shortages which would potentially reduce sales. It is necessary therefore for the containers to be refilled on a periodic basis, either shortly after a container has become empty or in order to anticipate the container becoming empty. The service person therefore is required to check the inventory of a container and to top up the supply within each container which may be empty or approaching empty.
The apparatus includes a control unit which monitors the inventory and controls the dispensing of the tickets in response to the manual actuation of the switches by the customers and in response to the submission of suitable payment by the customers.
Furthermore the control unit controls the operation of the dispensing unit of each container so as to forward the ticket to be dispensed to the required dispensing location. In regard to the scratch off type tickets which are generally supplied in a continuous strip, it is generally desirable to effect a bursting of the perforations between each ticket and the next so as to allow an individual ticket to be dispensed into a chute. This avoids any possibility of a customer improperly tearing a ticket or being able to pull an extended number of tickets from the supply. In order to effect the bursting action, it is necessary for the dispensing unit to have information concerning the length of the ticket from its leading edge at the previous perforation line to the trailing edge at the next perforation line so as to move the perforation line to the bursting position and so as to dispense the ticket. In regard to the break open type tickets which are conventionally supplied in individual ticket form, it is also necessary for the control unit to have information concerning the length of the ticket in order to ensure that the ticket is properly dispensed.
The marketing of lottery ticket involves generating attractive tickets of different game types to successfully convince the customer to purchase the particular game. For this purpose, different dimensions of tickets are manufactured including different widths and particularly different lengths so that tickets commonly vary in length from 2.0 inches up to 8.0 inches with many different lengths in between. The design of the ticket does not wish to be restricted to particular lengths since this could interfere with maximizing the attractiveness of the graphics on the ticket while minimizing the cost of the ticket.
In addition it is conventional to supply to the customers a selection of tickets of different prices so the customer may choose particular tickets not only based upon the attractiveness of the game but also upon the amount of money which the customer chooses to pay.
Yet further in view of the different dimensions of the tickets, the number of tickets supplied in a particular assembly or xe2x80x9cbookxe2x80x9d of the tickets will vary widely.
The different games are identified by an individual game number so that each game can be quickly distinguished from the next by the lottery organization controlling the sale of the tickets.
In order to provide the customer with an appealing array of tickets from which to purchase, the dispensing machine generally although not necessarily includes a number of containers which can vary depending upon the particular size of dispensing machine required for example from 12 dispensing containers up to 24 dispensing containers. Each container generally therefore will be filled with a different game for selection by the customers. Generally the game selection remains constant so that it is necessary only for the service person to maintain the containers properly filled by adding into each container a fresh supply of the tickets associated with that container. However in addition it also necessary on occasion to change the game associated with a respective container when older games are cancelled and new games are brought in to replace those older games.
It is necessary for the control unit, for each container, to have input into the memory thereof information relating to the game including the game number, the price of the ticket, the total number of tickets in an assembly or book of the ticket and the length of the tickets between the perforation lines.
At the present time, the information relating to the above items is input into the control unit by the service person or store clerk using a keypad. Thus the service person must enter the numerical price of each of the items set forth above when changing the game. Also when adding tickets to the supply, it is necessary for the service person to ensure that the proper tickets are placed within the proper respective container so that the above prices are proper for the tickets within the container and must also enter into the control unit the number of tickets added.
It will be appreciated that the service person in the retail location is faced with between 12 and 24 different containers each containing a different game and each having different prices for the above items. There is therefore significant potential for error to be made leading to many difficulties. For example the input of the wrong ticket price could lead to tickets being sold at the wrong price with a considerable loss of revenue. For example the entry of the wrong number of tickets in the book may lead to inventory problems which are difficult to resolve. For example the entry of the wrong length of the ticket may lead the dispensing device to tear tickets at the wrong location leading to dispensing of part tickets or jamming of the dispensing device.
In order to assist the retailer in this regard it is common to provide prior to launch of a new game a data sheet or flyer which is provided to the retailers as a promotion for the new game. Such flyers often give information at separate parts of the flyer relating to the game number, price, number of tickets in the book and the length of the ticket.
As the length of the ticket can vary widely, in the absence of the flyer which is not arranged nor intended to be stored or supplied with the tickets, the technique used for entry of the length is generally to require the service person to actually measure the length of the ticket on a scale provided on the housing so that the service person reads off from the scale the actual numerical value of the length either in inches or centimeters and then enters that numerical value in the keypad. It will be appreciated that this measurement is troublesome, time consuming and leads to potential errors.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved and simplified arrangement by which information relating to the dispensing of the tickets is input into the control unit of the dispensing machine.
According to the invention there is provided a method of dispensing lottery tickets comprising:
providing a plurality of dispensing containers each arranged to receive a plurality of lottery tickets in row for dispensing each in turn;
providing at each container a dispensing device actuable to dispense each ticket in turn;
mounting each container and its dispensing device within a housing accessible by a customer;
providing on the housing customer actuable switches arranged for actuation by the customer for dispensing tickets from selected ones of the containers;
providing in the housing a payment receiving device operable by the customer for effecting by the customer of a payment for selected tickets;
providing a control unit within the housing;
the control unit being arranged for operation by an authorised service person for controlling the filling of selected containers with respective selected tickets for dispensing;
the control unit being arranged controlling the dispensing of the tickets in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer;
when a container requires additional or replacement tickets, providing a quantity of tickets for insertion into the container;
and inputting information into the control unit for the container into which tickets are to be inserted defining for the respective quantity of tickets:
a game number for a game provided on the tickets;
a price of the ticket;
a total number of the tickets making up the quantity of tickets;
and a length of the tickets from a leading edge of each ticket to a trailing edge thereof;
wherein the information defining the length of the tickets is input into the control unit from information provided in relation to the tickets without requiring the service person to enter the length on a key pad as a numerical length.
The tickets defined herein can be of the scratch-off type or break-open type as well known to one skilled in the art.
Preferably also the information defining the price of the ticket and the information defining the total number of tickets is input into the control unit from information provided in relation to the tickets without requiring the service person to enter the price on a key pad as a numerical price. In this arrangement, the information defining the price of the ticket and the information defining the length of the ticket are preferably input simultaneously into the control unit from the same information. In most cases also the game number will also be input simultaneously as part of the same data which is read into or entered into the control unit. This data may also include additional information such as ticket calliper, which may be required in the case where the same machine is selling single sheet tickets and laminated tickets, which are thicker.
In one preferred construction, the information defining the length of the tickets is provided in machine readable data provided to the service person in association with the quantity of tickets and wherein there is provided in the housing a code reader arranged to provide an input to the control unit by reading the machine readable data.
The code reader is preferably an optical reader which reads a xe2x80x9cbar codexe2x80x9d printed on the substrate providing the information, but other forms of machine readable data may be provided including those which are not read optically such as magnetic stripe scanners and other techniques known to one skilled in this art.
In this arrangement, the machine readable data can be provided on each ticket. Each such ticket may include validation machine readable data for use in validating the ticket after playing by the customer and wherein the machine readable data providing the information is provided as separate fields within a common machine readable code with the validation data.
Alternatively the machine readable data can be provided on a separate substrate or xe2x80x9csetup cardxe2x80x9d provided with the quantity of tickets. Advantageously, there is provided in the housing a storage and display location associated with the respective container for receiving the setup card which includes information identifying the game on the tickets to the service person so that the setup card associated with each container can be displayed for showing to the service person the game associated with that container and for use by the service person in providing the machine readable data when adding to a container a quantity of tickets which are the same game number as the tickets already in the container. The location can be actually on the container or can be located separately but clearly associated with the container.
In one arrangement, the machine readable data includes at least the price, the length and the total number and also preferably the game number together with any other required data as actual numerical values as fields in the data. Alternatively the machine readable data includes the required data or values as coded values different from the actual numerical values as fields in the data and wherein the control unit includes a memory containing a table correlating the coded values with the actual numerical values.
In another alternative arrangement, there is provided a data connection from the control unit to a central data source, storing at the central data source a table in which each game number is associated with information relating to the tickets associated with that game number providing the price of the tickets; the total number of the tickets making up the quantity of tickets and the length of the tickets; and the service person acts to enter into the control unit the game number associated with a quantity of tickets to be inserted into a container; causing the control unit to retrieve from the central source the information relating to the tickets to be inserted and causing the control unit to control the dispensing from the container in response thereto.
In a yet further alternative, the information defining at least the a price of the ticket, the total number of the tickets making up the quantity of tickets and the length of the tickets is encoded into a data entry code different from and simpler than the numerical values of the information, wherein the data entry code is provided to the service person in association with the tickets to be inserted into the container, wherein the control unit includes a memory containing a table for decoding the data entry code and wherein the service person is caused to enter the data entry code into the control unit to provide to the control unit said information. In this arrangement, the data entry code can be provided on a game setup card supplied with the quantity of tickets or the data entry code can be provided on each of the tickets.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method of supplying lottery tickets comprising:
supplying at least one assembly of lottery tickets;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common transportation and storage;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common insertion into a dispensing container for dispensing therefrom sequentially for sale to customers;
the tickets having associated therewith a game number and a game price;
the tickets having a common length from leading edge to trailing edge;
the assembly having a predetermined total number of tickets;
and supplying with the at least one assembly a separate game setup card;
the game setup card having printed thereon data providing the game number, the game price, the ticket length and the total number in readily readable form for input into a dispensing machine;
the game setup card being shaped and arranged for display within the dispensing machine at a location associated with the assembly of tickets.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of supplying lottery tickets comprising:
supplying at least one assembly of lottery tickets;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common transportation and storage;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common insertion into a dispensing container for dispensing therefrom sequentially for sale to customers;
the tickets having associated therewith a game number and a game price;
the tickets having a common length from leading edge to trailing edge;
the assembly having a predetermined total number of tickets;
and printing on each ticket readily readable data defining the length of the ticket.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for dispensing lottery tickets comprising:
a plurality of dispensing containers each arranged to receive a plurality of lottery tickets in row for dispensing each in turn;
at each container a dispensing device actuable to dispense each ticket in turn;
a housing accessible by a customer within which each container and its dispensing device is mounted;
customer actuable switches on the housing arranged for actuation by the customer for dispensing tickets from selected ones of the containers;
a payment receiving device in the housing operable by the customer for effecting by the customer of a payment for selected tickets;
a control unit within the housing arranged for operation by an authorised service person for controlling the filling of selected containers with respective selected tickets for dispensing and for controlling the dispensing of the tickets in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer;
a reader of machine readable data;
the control unit being connected to the reader and arranged to receive therefrom information for each container into which tickets are to be inserted defining for the respective quantity of tickets;
a game number for a game provided on the tickets;
a price of the ticket;
a total number of the tickets making up the quantity of tickets;
and a length of the tickets from a leading edge of each ticket to a trailing edge thereof.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for dispensing lottery tickets comprising:
a plurality of dispensing containers each arranged to receive a plurality of lottery tickets in row for dispensing each in turn;
at each container a dispensing device actuable to dispense each ticket in turn;
a housing accessible by a customer within which each container and its dispensing device is mounted;
customer actuable switches on the housing arranged for actuation by the customer for dispensing tickets from selected ones of the containers;
a payment receiving device in the housing operable by the customer for effecting by the customer of a payment for selected tickets;
a control unit within the housing arranged for operation by an authorised service person for controlling the filling of selected containers with respective selected tickets for dispensing and for controlling the dispensing of the tickets in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer;
and a plurality of card mounting receptacles provided in the housing at locations which are inaccessible to the customer for receiving and displaying to a service person having access within the housing a respective setup card, each receptacle being associated with a respective container so as to display the setup card in association with the container so as to provide data relating to the tickets in the container.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus for dispensing lottery tickets comprising:
a plurality of dispensing containers each arranged to receive a plurality of lottery tickets in row for dispensing each in turn;
at each container a dispensing device actuable to dispense each ticket in turn;
a housing accessible by a customer within which each container and its dispensing device is mounted;
customer actuable switches on the housing arranged for actuation by the customer for dispensing tickets from selected ones of the containers;
a payment receiving device in the housing operable by the customer for effecting by the customer of a payment for selected tickets;
a control unit within the housing arranged for operation by an authorised service person for controlling the filling of selected containers with respective selected tickets for dispensing and for controlling the dispensing of the tickets in response to the actuation of the switches by the customer;
a telecommunications link for connection of the control unit to a central data source;
the control unit being arranged to connect to the central source and to receive therefrom in response to supply of a game number therefrom to the central source information defining for the respective quantity of tickets:
a price of the ticket;
a total number of the tickets making up the quantity of tickets;
and a length of the tickets from a leading edge of each ticket to a trailing edge thereof.
According to a seventh aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising:
an assembly of lottery tickets;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common transportation and storage;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common insertion into a dispensing container for dispensing therefrom sequentially for sale to customers;
the assembly having supplied therewith a game set up card having thereon printed information representative of a length of the tickets from a leading edge of each ticket to a trailing edge thereof;
the game setup card being shaped and arranged for display within a dispensing machine at a location associated with the assembly of tickets.
According to a eighth aspect of the invention there is provided an apparatus comprising:
an assembly of lottery tickets;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common transportation and storage;
the assembly of lottery tickets being arranged for common insertion into a dispensing container for dispensing therefrom sequentially for sale to customers;
each ticket having thereon printed information representative of a length of the tickets from a leading edge of each ticket to a trailing edge thereof.